What role do free markets play in the social market economy? Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Friederike Welter (IfM Bonn/University of Siegen) and Gitta Connemann, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and the Federal Government Commissioner for the Mittelstand Enterprises, discussed this question in mid-July at a debate organised by the Bonn Academy for Research and Teaching in Practical Politics in Bonn.
The IfM President explained that the social market economy combines the economic strengths of free markets with social and regulatory safeguards: “Free markets require a strong regulatory framework and social corrective measures. In principle, the social market economy represents an interplay between competition policy, social policy, labour market institutions, monetary stability and a reliable legal framework. Thanks to the decentralised processing of information, it is therefore superior to dirigiste systems. ”
